The 44 finalists for the 2024 Lord Mayor’s Business Awards have been chosen

The winners of the 2024 Lord Mayor’s Business Awards will be revealed on October 25 with the property sector having a larger than usual representation. See who the 44 nominees are.

The team from Five Mile Radius.

Forty-four local businesses building Brisbane’s future have been named as finalists in the 2024 Lord Mayor’s Business Awards.

Now in their 19th year, the Awards recognise Brisbane’s businesses and entrepreneurs that are

shaping the city, driving innovation and having an impact in the community.

This year’s finalists span sectors including aviation, hospitality, sustainability and manufacturing, however with the city undergoing major transformation, including a $25bn infrastructure pipeline, businesses contributing to Brisbane’s built environment have emerged as contenders across several categories.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said this 2024 cohort of Lord Mayor’s Business Awards finalists had contributed to Brisbane’s nation-leading economic growth.

“Brisbane is Australia’s lifestyle capital and local businesses are feeling the momentum of our city’s soaring popularity,” he said.

“People from across Australia and the globe are choosing Brisbane to live and work, bringing more opportunities to our suburbs than ever before.

“Our business community is vital to shaping the future of Brisbane through advances in construction, entertainment, sustainability and technology.

“This year’s finalists have made their mark on Brisbane, creating more local jobs, developing new products and delivering outstanding services that connect Brisbane to the world.”

From expanding lifestyle precincts and First Nations designers to material innovators and mental health advocates, here’s a closer look at some of the innovative place makers and city shapers vying to win an award.

Howard Smith Wharves

Transformed from a historic abandoned site into a vibrant world-class dining and entertainment precinct, the 8.5-acre Howard Smith Wharves riverfront precinct under Brisbane’s iconic Story Bridge has become a go-to for locals and a must-visit for tourists, and one of Brisbane’s most successful developments. Led by founder Adam Flaskas and CEO Luke Fraser, the riverside destination has bold plans to be the most sustainable precinct in the world. Finalists in the Dentsu Enivronmental Sustainability Award, the precinct has set new sustainability standards diverting 95 per cent of waste from landfill through 17 waste initiatives and generating renewable energy on site.

Earlier this week, new plans were unveiled by developers Artemus Group to expand the precinct with the addition of a nine-storey, 77-room boutique hotel and pool deck overhanging the Brisbane River.

Howard Smith Wharves proposal for the construction of a 77-room hotel, enhanced public spaces on the current Felons Barrel Hall site.

Place Design Group

Headquartered in Brisbane, international planning and design Place Design Group are behind some of the city’s most significant developments including the 1.5ha Waterfront Brisbane precinct on Eagle Street, Cross River Rail Albert Street Station and suburban projects from Herston to Springfield. Executive Chair and founding partner Shaun Munday is a finalist in the Courier Mail Business Person of the Year Award, with more than 30 years’ experience in planning and property. Internationally, Munday has led projects in the Middle East, China, Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands.

An artist's impression of the $2.5bn Waterfront Brisbane project.

Blaklash

It’s all about connection to Country for Aboriginal-owned design consultancy, specialising in Country-centred design across the built environment. Grounded in collaboration with local communities, including Traditional Custodians, they ensure that projects honour and reflect the rich cultural heritage of Brisbane. Led by directors Troy Casey and Amanda Hayman, the Blaklash team of First Nations designers, curators and placemakers, has completed over 45 projects in partnership with First Nations communities, including designs for Victoria Park Barrambin and 101 Albert Street. Nominated for Business Chamber Queensland Small Business Award, Blaklash provide a platform for Indigenous artists, and drive sustainable positive change for First Nations Communities.

A Blaklash mural at the Queensland University of Technology.

Rino Recycling

A state-of-the-art hybrid recycling facility in Pinkenba, Rino Recycling is leading the way in reclaiming, refining and reusing construction and demolition waste – think concrete, bricks, steel, timber, glass, green waste, soil and plastic.

Rino’s facility at Pinkenba can process 1.5 million tonnes of waste per year. Thanks to large machinery installations and process investments made by the company, it recovers 95 per cent of everything disposed at its site.

Construction waste is one of Australia’s most significant waste sources, comprising between around 20 per cent of all waste generated across the country. That makes businesses like Rino an essential part of Brisbane’s future sustainability plans.

Rino Recycling are finalists in two categories including the Dentsu Environmental Sustainability Award and ISPT Investment in Brisbane Award.

Rino Recycling general manager Dan Blaser and Rino director Todd Pepper at the Pinkenba recycling facility.

Five Mile Radius

The ultimate upcycling business, Five Mile Radius was founded by architect Clare Kennedy, who describes her work as “Design thinking meets hard yakka”. Inspired by the resourcefulness she observed while working in India, Kennedy ingeniously transforms construction and demolition waste into useful and beautiful new products.

Collaborating with her highly trained carpenters and furniture makers at her workshop in Yeronga, Kennedy is diverting waste from landfill and making one of pieces that both delight and inspire. As if by magic, old concrete slabs and used reo bar become a set of nested tables. Disused telegraph poles are sculpted into charming, three-legged outdoor stools. Decommissioned benchtops are lovingly restored, recut and reset for a second life as super-chic coffee tables.

Nominated for the Dentsu Environmental Sustainability Award, the business is underpinned by a belief that we can find most of the materials we need to fulfil our needs within our local area. The focus of place has led to some fascinating circular outcomes. For example, the Five Mile Radius team is working with commercial contractors on Dexus’s Waterfront Brisbane project to craft one-of-a-kind pieces out of reclaimed waste from that site.

Antonia Mercorella – Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ)

The hotly contested Business Person of the Year Award includes another property boffin, Antonia Mercorella chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ). Running alongside Place Design Group Executive Chair Shaun Munday, gasket manufacturing company owner Carl Quarterman and cyber security founder Jamie Wilson, Mercorella, is approaching her 10th anniversary at the helm of REIQ, is a well-known property advocate and ambassador for The Forgotten Women, a grassroots housing initiative for older women experiencing homelessness.

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella

TradeMutt

Talk about men on a mission. Ed Ross and Dan Allen have taken a hefty slice of Australia’s tradie workwear market, which is worth more than $2bn annually, by donating 50 per cent of their profits to mental health charities. TradeMutt’s lairy hi-vis shirts, designed to start conversations about mental health, are now impossible to miss on building sites across the country.

The brand has had a major social impact since it launched five years ago as a lighthearted way to push mental health messages into the mainstream and get tradies talking. TradeMutt has just released a new range for nurses, doctors and frontline health workers.

Nominated for Hutchinson Builders Social Enterprise Award, the founders keep the conversation going by celebrating the best day of the week through their podcast, Funky Shirt Fridays.

TradeMutt's funky hi-vis shirts.

The 11 category winners of the 2024 Lord Mayor’s Business Awards will be announced on Friday 25 October 2024, at Brisbane City Hall.

Finalists for the Lord Mayor’s Business Awards 2024

Coraggio International Business Award

• Australian Country Choice

• Dy-Mark

• NOJA Power

• Qlicksmart

Dentsu Environmental Sustainability Award

• Austep

• Five Mile Radius

• Howard Smith Wharves

• Rino Recycling

Hutchinson Builders Social Enterprise

Award

• Fruit2Work

• Future Anything

• TradeMutt

• yourtown

Business Chamber Queensland Small Business

Award

• Blaklash

• Causeis

• Tom’s Confectionery Warehouse

• Yoga on the Inside

Accenture Australia Product Innovation

Award

• Carbonaught

• EnergyFlex

• Gelomics

• Stralis Aircraft

oOh! media Micro Business Award

• I Heart Songwriting Club

• OSAAP Australia

• Small Scholars

• Women in Digital

ANZ High-Growth Business Award

• Australian Country Choice

• My Wealth Solutions

• TACTIC

• Thermo Fisher Scientific

ISPT Investment in Brisbane Award

• ESR Australia and New Zealand

• Komatsu Australia

• Rino Recycling

• Gallipoli Medical Research

Australia Pacific LNG Business

Transformation Award

• etrainu

• HTA Group

• Multicap Limited

Port of Brisbane Young Business Person of the

Year Award

• Ashley Baxter – Monty Compost Co

• Mitch Robinson – IDU Identification

• Rebecca Petroff – Sunstate Conveyancing

• Robert Matthews – DoubleTake Sports

The Courier-Mail Business Person of the Year Award

• Antonia Mercorella – Real Estate Institute of Queensland

• Carl Quarterman – Queensland Gaskets

• Jamie Wilson – Cryptoloc

• Shaun Munday – Place Design Group